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Silver 3.5 inch bare hard drive with circuit board visible

Western Digital

Western Digital 0F38459 Ultrastar DC HC550 18TB 3.5" 7200 RPM 512MB cache SATA internal hard drive

SKU CH-VQND-QKGNH MPN 0F38459

An 18TB 3.5-inch SATA drive with 7200 RPM, 512MB cache, CMR recording and helium sealing for enterprise storage

  • Total capacity18 TB
  • Interface typeSATA 6.0Gb/s
  • Form factor3.5 in (8.89 cm)
  • Packaging typeBare Drive
  • Recording methodCMR
  • Rotational speed7,200 RPM

Capacity 18TB

  • 18TB capacity fits in a standard 3.5-inch bay
  • 7200 RPM spindle speed enables fast sequential access
  • 512MB cache buffers bursts for smoother throughput
  • Energy-Assisted Magnetic Recording boosts areal density without extra platters
  • Triple Stage Actuator improves head positioning accuracy

High-capacity enterprise hard drive

The Western Digital Ultrastar DC HC550 0F38459 is an 18TB 3.5-inch internal hard drive built for enterprise storage systems. It spins at 7200 RPM with a 512MB cache and connects via SATA 6.0Gb/s. The drive uses CMR recording technology and incorporates Energy-Assisted Magnetic Recording with a Triple Stage Actuator for reliable high-density performance.

Suited for bulk storage arrays.

This drive suits administrators deploying large-capacity RAID arrays, backup repositories or nearline storage where sequential throughput and cost per terabyte matter. The HelioSeal design delivers power efficiency for dense deployments. Buyers needing low-latency random access for transactional databases or virtualisation hosts should look at solid-state alternatives instead.

SATA 6.0Gb/s interface determines host compatibility

The single specification that decides fitment is the SATA 6.0Gb/s interface; the system backplane or controller must support this standard. The bare-drive packaging means no mounting brackets or cables are included, so installation hardware must be sourced separately. A projected 2.5M hour MTBF rating reflects the drive's enterprise-grade design targets.

How it compares

Measured against everything we stock in 3.5-Inch Internal Desktop HDDs, at today’s prices. Recalculated every night.

Price $419.99
Pricier than about 90% of the 4,938 comparable items (median $107.99).
Total capacity 18 TB
Higher than about 93% of the 2,372 comparable items (median 2 TB).
Price per TB $23.33 per TB
Cheaper than about 90% of the 2,365 comparable items (median $62.21 per TB).

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Specifications

Product
Brand nameWD
Product lineUltrastar DC HC550
Model nameWUH721818ALE6L4 (0F38459)
Total capacity18 TB
Recommended useFor Enterprise Storage
Performance
Rotational speed7,200 RPM
Mean latency4.16 ms
Storage
Recording methodCMR
Cache memory512 MB
Ports & slots
Interface typeSATA 6.0Gb/s
Size & build
Form factor3.5 in (8.89 cm)
Max height26.1 mm
Maximum width101.6 mm
Maximum length147 mm
Shipping weight0.91 kg
Package size152 × 102 × 25 mm

Other versions of this model

2 more in the same range

Questions about this item

How much power does the 18TB 7200 RPM drive draw during all-day operation?

The HelioSeal design delivers outstanding power efficiency measured in Watts per TB, keeping heat and noise low for continuous enterprise workloads.

What host interface and physical bay does the 3.5-inch SATA 6.0Gb/s drive need to work?

A standard 3.5-inch drive bay and a SATA 6.0Gb/s port with matching data and power cables are required for installation.

Will the 512MB cache CMR drive work reliably alongside older SATA drives in the same array?

CMR technology works with all capacity enterprise applications and environments, so it integrates with existing SATA storage without changes.

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